Set the sceneWhat appears to be a Nordic café-bookshop inside a Georgian townhouse on the right side of Paddington, best reached via a little mews where piano is practised, bottles of Bordeaux uncorked. One of those new-fangled workspaces, perhaps? Dreamcatchers, hand-turned stools, framed wilderness prints, the whiff of wood oil and freshly printed books, and the satisfying glow of daylight on planed timber. This is a self-identifying mindfulness hotel planted in one of London’s most chaotic hubs, and it comes with clear instructions on how to press pause and unwind.

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What’s the story?Formerly the traditional Shaftesbury Metropolis, it has been redeveloped by Canadian-born Nadira Lalji, a third-generation hotelier whose family owns the Montcalm brand of hotels and her cousin Rahim Lalji. Nadira’s a convert to the art of mindfulness and all things new New Age, and set about crafting a boutique-priced hotel in London to counter urban ennui and stress, which opened in autumn 2019. There’s a dangling meditation pod chair, a sauna for one, and regular complimentary yoga and meditation classes – along with morning walks around Hyde Park for forest bathing. Lalji asked Devon-based Yeotown Kitchen to look after the menu, which is served in the long-tabled ground-floor café; on the opposite side of reception is the library and workspace, with shelves of books for the Kinfolk generation – browse titles on kintsugi, herbs, Alvar Aalto and whittling skill sets.

Library at Inhabit, London

Nicholas Worley

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What can we expect in our room? There are 89 bedrooms, which feel tightly packed from the corridor, but this dissipates once inside. They’re exercises in modular living, every inch has been considered, with underbed storage for suitcases and String-style shelving for bathrobes, books, aromatherapy oil and a phone-lock box for Insta-detox. And there’s a bundle of mindful exercise tips for a calm, slow-wave sleep. The curtain material would make a rather nice summer dress, and along with other fabrics has been sourced from Aerende, the socially conscious design start-up. Avoid the smaller doubles lacking a bedside table on one side, but standards are fine for a night or two – and there are seven three-bedders for families and friends.

How about the food and drink?Names of the dishes here sound like an alternative Seven Dwarves line-up – Empathy, Perseverance, Integrity, Joy – rippling with superfoods and vitamins; try the spelt truffle pasta with mushrooms and vegan cheese burger. There are cocktails such as Elegance (gin with orange blossom, kaffir lime and matcha powder) and biodynamic and orange wines. Lots of nutty, nibbly breakfast plates with berries and wild rice and turmeric and coconut yogurt. Worthy but not too Goopy.

Yeotown Kitchen at Inhabit, London

Tim Evan Cook

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Anything to say about the service?Bright, helpful. It’s not the Ritz you know.

What sort of person stays here?A young crowd, with plenty of European visitors to London – the yoga sessions are particularly popular with Germans and Scandinavians.

Library at Inhabit, London

Nicholas Worley

Anything you’d change?Best to take the stairs as the single lift can take a while. Healthier too.

How does it fit into the neighbourhood?Paddington’s undergone big changes since Michael Bond’s Peruvian émigré arrived in the 1960s, with the Basin area around the canal evolving upwards, leading London restaurants such as London Shell Co and Pearl Liang opening, and street food at Pergola – also try The Cleveland Arms for a fun dinner if you want to break out of the hotel’s clean-eating bubble. The area around the station is still a hurly-burly of transience, gormless tourists and drab two-stars with inspired names such as Brittania and Hyde Park, but The Pilgrm bucked the trend in 2018, with smart rooms for less than £150 in a series of former Victorian townhouses.

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Library at Inhabit, London

Nicholas Worley

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Anything else?The hotel’s timetable of complimentary wellness sessions (many of which draw upon 2020's biggest wellness trends) should be seized on. Book in an hour in the downstairs infrared sauna – no steam, but bone-warming heat with a shower to jump into after. There’s a small gym with Peloton exercise bikes, and a cork-floored yoga studio with dreamcatchers decorating the wall like a flight of over-sized ear rings – it’s a lovely, contemplative space with a slight Moorish feeling to it. Regular therapists such as Carolyn can take you walking over to Hyde Park for a mindful session that involves slow breathing, touching bark and walking ever-so slowly with eyes closed (note, this shouldn’t be tried crossing the street near Paddington station).

Is it worth staying here?Yes, and not just for the mindfully minded, but for those mindful of how close this is to the Heathrow Express.

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